A worthwhile Title in the Sonic Library
From my point of view, Sonic Unleashed is essentially 2 different Sonic games put together. Game 1 would be known as the daytime missions, and Game 2 is the night missions. They of course are presented as only 1game as the storyline progresses, but the game-play itself, well, as the box says, is different as night and day.
In the Day missions you're regular ol' Sonic, running and jumping. We know it, we love it.
In the Night missions you're the newly introduced WereHog version of Sonic. Less running, still jumping, and lots of slashing with your new claws. There's a definite shift in focus from speed to combat; combat, which is pretty simplistic.
WHAT'S GOOD:
Daytime Missions - They're everything that Sonic should be: Fast paced, bright and colourful, multiple routes available yet overall straight forward, not to hard to get to the end of each level but effort is required to master them. They move between 2.5D and 3D points of view during the action, but the transition is never distracting. Although you have no control over the camera, it does works with you, not against you. The controls are easy to handle and learn. I dare to make remarks some would consider blasphemous and say that I had as much fun with these levels as I did with the original Sonic games.
Night Missions - They're not perfect (see below) but there's still some fun to be had. It's pretty simple uncomplicated fun that you've seen in non-Sonic games before, but still fun. You also get level up bonuses throughout the game which lets you perform more attacks, and upgrades existing skills.
Mission goals - They're doable. For example, if you complete the missions in a certain amount of time you earn medals that let you unlock new areas. The times that are set in the missions are very respectable and even allow the user to do a little bit of exploring on the way to the end (particularly in the night missions).
Unlockables - There's lot to unlock. New levels (which is the most important one), music, artwork, ect.
The world map - Some people complained about the hub system, but I found the world map very easy to navigate, and when new levels or conversations are available, it's clearly indicated.
Sound - The sound effects are classic and fitting. They go well with the game. Although the music also blended well with the game-play, there was only a couple tracks in my opinion that really stood out. I suppose it's also fair to say that the quality of the voice acting was good, even if the direction the actors were given didn't impress me. I can appreciate the talent, but not the use of it.
The final boss level - There's kind of mixed emotions on this level. Out of the 3 stages in this final fight, 2 of them expose you to styles of game-play that you hadn't seen in the rest of the game. So the variety to mix things up at the end is kind of nice, and the first stage is fun once you know how to do it.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
Night Missions, controls - They need a little help. They're not unbearable, but it would help if they were a little more intuitive, fluid and responsive. There's also this weird decision that was made in the control scheme, where if you want to do a fast run you push twice in the same direction. Since the L2 & R2 buttons are unmapped, it could have easily been placed there, but they chose not too. So if you're in a tight spot, and are trying to nudge your way to the edge of a platform, you could find yourself accidentally dashing into the abyss below.
Night mission, camera - Like the day missions, you have no control over the camera, although it's not an issue at all during the day. The camera works but it would've been helpful if you had some control. Perhaps even the flexibility of panning 30 degrees to the left or right.
Night Missions, theme - It's not that I didn't enjoy them (as I stated above I did), but they didn't feel like they belonged in a Sonic title. It felt more like a generic action button masher.Overall, these levels do work, and there's fun there, but they don't feel refined or inspired. The excitement of Sonic that you find present in the daytime missions just isn't here.
The humour - I just didn't get it, and it wasn't funny to me.
Villages - Talking to the people felt tedious and often redundant to me. The dialogue attempted to show some wit, but failed in my opinion. At least it was all text based. Some people may have found this cheap as if felt like something from the days of the NES, but it beats listening to the tacky voice acting portrayed in the cut scenes.
The final boss level - it's kind of dragged out. Although I mentioned they mix up the game-play, it's still 3 stages long, and if you die on stage 3 you have to start again from stage one. So even though the variety is nice to see, introducing a new style of game-play right at the end, and it makes perfect sense why they decided to do it, it throws the learning curve off a little bit. Kind of like, all the skill you've been building throughout the game isn't worth much for 2 of the 3 stages. And there's a lot going on in the last part of this fight.
FINAL WORD:
If there was more day and less night, this game may have gotten more praise from me. It is fun though for people that just want to sit down and play a game. No epic story, no character development, and not a lot of depth. But it's fun! The day missions alone are enough to satisfy me, and I didn't mind playing through the night missions to get to them.
